GMPS FINALS/STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ON 10/30!

We are just over ONE week away from the close of the GMPS season! The season will end on the oldest and most challenging courses in the state, North Calais, next Sunday, 10/30, with the State Championship and GMPS Finals! Don’t miss this event! For more info, including registration details, please visit the forum thread HERE.

The first fairway at North Calais

BURKEVIEW RECAP!

Big thanks to Droo Fisher for providing the following write up and pictures from this great event!

The beautiful view from up high on the LSC course.

As the sun peeked over the mountains and I gazed across Lyndonville from the disc golf course at Lyndon State College, I remembered my first round of disc golf in Vermont. It took place just over 4 years ago, and I fell in love with the scenery, the weather, and the sheer beauty of the Northeast Kingdom. I also remembered that this was the course where I played in my first GMDGC tournament, three years ago. I was thrilled to earn a $11 in gear with my finish, and didn’t even mind missing the Chiefs beating the Cowboys on that day. Things have changed quite a bit since that time for me, but one thing remains consistent: the quality of the competition and spirit of the people that show up to throw with friendly passion and a sense of adventure.

Fast fowarding to Saturday, October 8th, a day that featured wind gusts that caused literal showers of pine needles to fall on my group, the scores were surprisingly low and the moods were surprisingly good. The highlight of the tournament was the hot play in the Open Division of both Evan Shper and Mike Habets – who tied at 114 (0) to finish. Evan won on the first playoff hole: a hybrid layout thrown from the tee box of 13 back down to the basket on hole 11. Local legend Travis Keller was just off the pace and finished at 117 (+3).

Theirs was not the only pro division playoff, however, as Cary Powell and Marcos Miller both had stellar rounds of 126 (+12), with Miller winning the playoff for the MPG division. For the MPM division, Steve Valkenberg managed a 130 (+16) to hold off course creator Jamie Struck and the ageless George Boone.

Competitors walk towards the 6th green at LSC, after hopefully punching through the tree line and parking one next to this short hole’s basket!

As always, the largest division was the MA2 group, totaling 18 players with some eyebrow raising scores. Eddie Crease was able to rally to overcome A.J. Seibel’s hot first round of 56 (-1), with two consistent and strong rounds to finish at 118 (+4) and a three-stroke win over Seibel.

Although the crowd was not as big as some other events, the quality of play was strong. Those that managed to undertake the drive to the NEK to brave one of the most difficult courses in Vermont were treated to a picturesque course, freshly maintained and dotted with divine views of the vibrant foliage. Thanks to all that came out to participate and for making my first TD experience a great one. I am looking forward to getting back into the tour. So, see you all in at the Vermont State Finals!

– DrooFish

We hope to get a SEASON IN REVIEW post up before the finals to peak into the division battles heading into the point series finals at Calais! Until then, enjoy the disc golf with less leaves on the trees to stop your disc!

It’s been a while since and update, but don’t worry, we have results, photos and recaps logged and will update you on all the GMPS action from the past 2 months soon! The GMPS points series races are heating up and the next event is the North Calais Maple Extravaganza! This event is on one of the best and most revered courses in New England and is filling up fast! For more info and to register, check out the forum link HERE.

The 18th basket on the epic closing hole at North Calais DGC

There are also events coming up the following weekend! Our friendly neighbors to the north are hosting their Provincial Championship the weekend of August 13th & 14th! A two day event, the Provincials have grown into a big regional event and this should be one of the best events that they have put on to date! Check out their site and register HERE.

For those golfers who can’t make the 2-day Provincial event, try out the 1st Annual Smuggs Summer Classic, a 1 round team scramble at Brewster Ridge. It happens to be on the same weekend that Brewster Ridge will open their 18-hole Fox Run layout. Register for this FUNdraiser HERE and check out the facebook event HERE.

That’s all for now, but check back soon for a recap of the disc golf action that has been going on in June & July!

We couldn’t write a better recap than the one TD Andy Powell posted in the forum, so it’s attached below. Congrats to Andy and Al Rosa on a great event at a new Vermont course that’s becoming quite a draw! Brewster Ridge Open is up next, stay tuned…

The perilous teebox on Quarries 13…

From the forum…
What a day! This tournament has officially exceeded my wildest expectations.
First there were my expectations for the course. I am always amazed by this place. If your last time playing here was the original Fall Platter tournament, or even last year’s Throwdown, then you have no idea what this place has become. Al Rosa and company have polished this truly unique piece of property into a perfect combination of challenge and scenic beauty.
Then there were my expectations for player interest. After a field of 45 last year, I had told the Parks and Rec board that I expected a crowd in the mid-50’s this year. Instead 82 players made the trip out to Barre on a beautiful Saturday. Despite at least 4 or 5 big tournaments in the surrounding states and provinces, we drew in quality competition from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massechusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Quebec, and of course Vermont. 11 of the 12 NEFA divisions were represented with only FPO remaining empty (Alex Benson I’m looking at you for next year). I can’t wait to put on a good show for next year’s 90 person (sellout?) crowd!So now to the action:
* Nick Gross crushed the old course record with an unofficially 1026 rated first round of 50 (-11)! He then held on for the win with a 56 in the 2nd.
* Dario Re shot the old course record of 54 twice to come in a close 2nd place, but got some revenge with a 1 point win in Mini Madness at the awards ceremony.
* Anne Lewis used a strong 1st round to beat out course designer and workhorse Al Rosa in
* Daniel Marcus won MPG (and a “really cool trophy”) in a one hole playoff with Davis Johnson and Karl Molitoris.
* Chris Wentzell is determined to get a GMPS division title after coming so close last year in MA2. It shows as he took his second MA1 win in 3 events!
* Alex Benson and Brian Betit put on shows of domination in FA1 and MM1 respectively. Alex’s 58 from the white tees is also a new official course record!
* Norm Peterson and James Hickman shot well in the single-player fields of MG1 and MJ1.
* Mike Finn fought through to earn a 1 stroke victory over a 20 person MA2 field.
* Beth Nordahl came through with the win in FA2 in her first tournament. Bush league represent!
* Denver Heath signed up day-of and went on to grab the victory in an 8 person field in MA3.

It was great to see a lot of familiar faces out on the course yesterday. Kyle it was a blast to play with you for the first time in about 5 years (even if it was only for 12 holes). T.M. and crew, it was great to finally get to host you guys for a change! I also loved seeing all the new faces out there. I love it when a junior gets to walk in off the street, and walk out a champion. I love seeing women’s divisions becoming more popular with local and travelling players. I love seeing the rec players who just thought that they’d give this tournament thing a try, and now because of one day of fun they’re hooked! (We’ve got Garrett Worley for sure!) After all it was 9 years ago that I got hooked playing in a 5 person rec field at the Sugarbush Open. Yesterday 2 of those 5 rec players were your course designer/maintainer and your TD. Who knows where the new players from this weekend will be in 10 years!

GMPS#2 is in the books and we got a beautiful day for disc golf at Center Chains DGC in Waterbury Center, VT for the Sap Bucket Open XIII! This is the longest running event at the oldest public course in the state, so taking home a title here means something! Last weekend’s event saw a large field of 80 players compete across 10 different divisions! This GMPS event was also a PDGA C-Tier so we have some round ratings to look at as well. Check them out here: SAP BUCKET PDGA RESULTS. With 2 events in the books, there are also GMPS considerations to review as the early division leaders try to stake their claim on the 2016 series. But first, here are your 2016 winners and field sizes they beat:

GMPS CONSIDERATIONS:

Frist off, let me mention that we have had some great results from players NOT in the GMPS through these first two events. If you don’t see your scores up in the GMPS standings, it most likely means you need to purchase you 2016 GMDGC Membership for your rounds to count in the GMPS. The rule for the GMPS is that the scores from the last 2 events count when you join as a member, so don’t wait if you have a good score out there! For the player’s that are GMDGC members, take a peak at the current current GMPS Standings.

GMPS#3 – QUARRIES THROWNDOWN TOMORROW!

Wait until after the round if you’re going swimming!

Tomorrow, Saturday May 28th, GMPS #3 will kick off at the Barre Town Forest and Quarries DGC. This course has evolved and broken in considerably since its inception in 2013 and is now hosting its 2nd GMPS event! We again look to have a robust field full of both Vermonter’s and golfer’s from across New England.

For a full hole-by-hole preview of this event (thanks Andy Powell, for your shockingly thorough forum thread) please check out the Quarries forum thread. There are only a few spots left, and pre-registration is over, so there early if you would like to try to register the morning of! We will report back soon!

After a long layoff the GMPS season opened with a bang at Pinnacle (Newport, NH) on May 7. The event sold out at an event-record 90 players and was dual-sanctioned with the NH points series (Live Free and Drive Tour). Players from both shores of the CT River were treated to a great day of disc golf – see below for a quick rundown. Before you do, though, jump over to DGS and register for GMPS #2: The 13th annual Sap Bucket @ Center Chains (Waterbury, VT). John Sudarsky is brewing up another great NEFA/PDGA tournament at this classic Vermont course, just minutes from the I-89 “IPA Highway.”

TD’ed smoothly by Spencer Weatherholt and Dan Walsh (played by “His Excellency the Reverend” Gary Stansfield) Pinnacle marked the first of many collaborations between GMPS and LFDT. Both organizations enjoyed bigger, better fields than their separate events at the course in 2015. We look forward to another successful dual-sanctioned event at Storrs Pond this fall and hopefully a continuation of the friendly border war next year!

But enough about lame organizational stuff, who threw discs into baskets well at Pinnacle? There were a couple of “local boy makes good” stories: Newport local Bret Sorter beat the rest of the MA2 field by 7 strokes! (it must’ve been the cart). After a strong showing in MA2 last year, Chris Wentzell took down his home opener with a narrow victory over kinda-local Alan Gofberg (who remains the only player I’ve seen take a courtesy violation from 3 holes away thanks to a colorful hotel-bathroom story). Peter Anderson backed up his Top O’ The Hill MPG victory with another one, this time via playoff vs Marcos Miller. Chris Young officially outlived his name and took down his first MASTERS event, prompting Spencer to accuse him of competing under a forged Dominican birth certificate.

In one of his quieter moments, Alan Gofberg saves 4 from beyond the stream on 14. Nice putt!

The big-boy division was won by Concord native and Top O’ The Hill player Tyler Colby. Tyler shot a (competition) COURSE-RECORD 51 to smoke Jim Bailey’s morning hot-round of 54 en route to a 3 stroke victory. He did it in characteristic Colby fashion- throwing controlled drives and smashing line drive putts in and out of the circle. We may not see him in the Green Mountain State, but Colby is a force to be reckoned with in NH disc golf!

You can check the forum for full results (bizarrely out-of-order) and accompanying trash talk. That’s all from New Hampshire, on to Sap Bucket!!